Der aufgeklärte Künstler

Konferenz: Touché! Die magische und technische Evidenz der Medien

Veranstalter: IFK Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften an der Kunstuniversität Linz, in Kooperation mit dem DFG-Forschungsprojekt der Universität Siegen.

Datum, Ort: 15.12.2011-16.12.2011, Wien, Reichsratsstraße 17, 1010 Wien.

Programm: http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=17901
ORF Radio Programm:  http://oe1.orf.at/programm/295462

 Vor zwei Jahren hat die holländische ‚pagan’ Musikgruppe Omnia das CD Wolf love veröffentlicht. Dieses CD trägt ein Motto des bekannten englischen Comicsautors Alan Moore, eine Rasputin ähnliche Erscheinung:

Art is like Magick … It’s the science of manipulating symbols, sounds or images to achieve changes in consciousness. It is not the job of the Artist to give the audience what they want. It’s the job of the Artist to give the audience what they need. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn’t be the audience, they would be the Artist.

VBCN-lid spendeert nog geen 25 euro per jaar aan innovatieve curator

Deze tekst werd ook gepubliceerd op de blog van het Register Freelance en Zelfstandige Kunsthistorici.

Over de VBCN heb ik een aantal jaren geleden een artikel in Het Financieele Dagblad geschreven. De bedrijfscollecties gingen zich aansluiten en wilden een positie in de internationale expositiemarkt innemen die vergelijkbaar is met het museum. Ik was heel benieuwd of deze sector zich anders in de kunstwereld zou positioneren. Dat blijkt nu van niet. Helaas, moet ik er wel bij zeggen. Want een begeerde reputatie levert kennelijk ook de overname van museale praktijken op. En die zijn niet gunstig voor de zelfstandig werkende curator.

Sashiburi in Amsterdam

Sashiburi ('long time no see') Ben Joppe in Steendrukkerij Amsterdam 

14 January - 18 February 2012 

Lauriergracht 80,1060 RM Amsterdam
Contributions: Wim Crouwel, Amsterdam Chamber Theatre

  

Ben Joppe (1915-2007) lived at Lauriergracht 80, Amsterdam, the address of the Steendrukkerij Amsterdam Gallery, from 1983-1993. In January 2012 he returns as an artist. The Ben Joppe Foundation, founded by the artist shortly before his death in 2007, sells Ben's expressive paintings and works on paper to support its aims: to stimulate talent in symphonic music and other forms of art.

    

The exhibition follows two biographical and artistic strands.

Art & Western Esotericism: from rejected knowledge to blockbuster

From 1996 onwards, Dutch art historians Marty Bax, Andréa Kroon and Audrey Wagtberg Hansen have realized various projects aimed at drawing attention to the relationship between ‘art & western esotericism’. Because our goals have largely been realized, we feel the time has come to focus on other lacunas in our knowledge of art history. This column therefore marks the end of our joint ‘lobby’ for this fascinating subject. 

Art and religion are closely related. Like the main world religions, lesser known religious currents have also provided artists with inspiration. Freemasonry, spiritualism, theosophy and anthroposophy for instance, were relevant to the development of modern art. Within the academic Study of Religions, these organisations are seen as part of western esotericism: an umbrella term for a group of related currents, which date back to the gnosis of Antiquity, the hermetic philosophy of the Renaissance and the ‘occult’ sciences (alchemy, magic, astrology).

The birth of Theo van Doesburg's alias

Have you ever wondered why someone takes on an alias? I can think of a myriad of reasons. There is one thing in common: all of these reasons are tied to the person who takes on this alias: his person, his personal life and his life within a community, and also aspects like tradition and ‘fashion’. The basic questions here are: ‘why’ and ‘why this specific alias’? Because the choice of an alias is always the choice of the person involved. 

Let’s turn to the alias which Christian Emil Marie (Emil) Küpper (1883-1931) chose as an artist: Theo van Doesburg. He was one of the chief promoters of De Stijl and Dada. Van Doesburg also used other aliases in his life: I.K. Bonset and Aldo Camini. Until I researched his youth (in 1999-2000), no art historian had really questioned the personal reasons behind Emil Küpper’s choice of the alias ‘Theo van Doesburg’. His genealogy provided the only plausible answer. Moreover: family circumstances also gave rise to new hypotheses about, and possible answers to, why Emil Küpper had such explosive relationships with his fellow-artists.